This invention relates to an envelope which is to be inserted into a magazine.
Magazines frequently include tear-out envelope inserts which the reader can use to send money, entry blanks, or the like to advertisers. For example, an advertiser might offer an introductory sample of a product for one dollar. The reader is instructed to tear out an envelope which is associated with the advertisement, enclose a dollar in the envelope, and mail the envelope to the advertiser.
Such envelopes are usually bound into the magazine by an attaching portion which is an extension of one of the sheets of the envelope and which is inserted between two pages of the magazine as the magazine is being assembled and bound. The envelope is joined to the attaching portion by a perforation line or tear line, and the attaching portion remains bound into the magazine when the envelope is torn off.
It is advantageous to stack a plurality of such envelopes and feed the envelopes between the pages of successive magazines automatically. However, the attaching portion has a single thickness of material whereas the envelope has a double thickness of material. A stack of envelopes therefore has a tendency to slant or tilt toward the end where the attaching portion is located, and the unevenness of the stack causes problems in machine-feeding the envelopes. As a result, magazine publishers ordinarily charge advertisers a substantial premium for binding envelopes into magazines.
Envelope inserts formed in accordance with the invention have a uniform double thickness of sheet material throughout the insert so that a plurality of envelopes can be stacked evenly. This enables the envelope to be machine fed easily and substantially reduces the time and cost of binding the envelopes into magazines. The portion of the insert which is bound into the magazine can be provided by both sheets of the insert by offsetting the tear-off perforation lines in the two sheets. The offset perforation lines provide a flap portion on one of the sheets when the envelope is separated from the portion of the insert which remains bound into the magazine. The flap portion is provided with adhesive so that the flap portion can be folded over the other sheet and secured thereto to seal the envelope.